Issa Rae to Keynote "Here Are All the Black People"

The One Club

Sep 16, 2014

The One Club today announced that writer producer Issa Rae will deliver the keynote address at Here Are All the Black People, a multicultural career fair for aspiring creatives in the advertising and design industries, which will take place in New York on September 24. Issa Rae follows Dr. Cornel West, who provided opening remarks for last year’s event.

With her own unique flare and infectious sense of humor, Issa Rae’s content has garnered over 20 million views and close to 160,000 subscribers on YouTube. In addition to making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list twice and winning the 2012 Shorty Award for Best Web Show for her hit series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” Issa Rae has worked on web content for Pharrell Williams, Tracey Edmonds and numerous others. She developed a TV series with Shonda Rhimes for ABC and is currently developing a half-hour comedy for HBO with Larry Wilmore. Rae is also slated to release a book of essays with Simon & Schuster in 2015.

“Issa Rae is talented, enterprising and a great example of what you can accomplish when you embrace your individuality,” said Traecy Smith, Director of Diversity at The One Club. “Instead of following a prescribed career path, Issa focused on who she was, not on what would make her fit in, and took advantage of nontraditional platforms to engineer her own success – an important lesson for young creatives looking to break into the industry.”

Heading into its fifth year, Here Are All the Black People has attracted the support of celebrities and academics, including Jerry Seinfeld and Dr. Cornel West, and has created thousands of internship and job opportunities for students and young professionals of all races, ethnicities, cultures and experiences.

Here Are All the Black People will take place on Wednesday, September 24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.